Yesterday in celebration of Cabernet Day( organized by Rick Bakas and sponsored by Cork’d) I decided to go into NYC to taste some fine Cabs @ The Roger Smith Hotel. The line -up included some Bordeaux wines, of course St. Supery, Hahn Estate, Borghese, Porter Family, Stryker,& Jacuzzi (named after the large tub of H2O). The tasting list also showed Titus, but unfortunately the local event organizer could not locate the case of wine, so it was a ” No Show”.

Cabernet Day is a celebration of social media and wine all rolled into one. And it’s not like I need an excuse to drink good Cab but it’s a great way to meet and tweet with your fellow Cab lovers about your wine impressions.

There were scheduled meetups throughout the country with quite a few of them taking place in the New York/New Jersey area (I’m from New Jersey). The hotel had roughly 40 tweeters all lined up with smart phones and laptops in hand. Me, I had pen & paper in hand and concentrated on bouquet and taste instead of pecking at a miniature keyboard. Call me old-fashioned or cheap.Whatever!

There were even a few Cabernet Francs showcased at the event. Its always easy to forget that grape varietal when most people think Cabernet Sauvignon; I did!

In the end it was The Rodney Strong Cabernet Sauvignon Reserve 2005 that I enjoyed the most. Actually, this wine was not listed but just happened that someone ” snuck it in”, so I helped myself to a little 2 ounce taste. Glad I did, because it was my own personal show stopper. It kind of took my mind off of the no-show Titus Vineyard Cabernet Sauvignon

A very interesting event though there were no real show stoppers for me ( except for the rogue Rodney). In the end, I think social media and wine drinking is a great marriage. Who would of thought of such a perfect pair? It’s a match made in heaven with no pencil or paper needed.

Share this:

Like this:

There are not many online social interest communities benefiting more from networking sites than the wine community; it is extremely active, vibrant, and from my experience (being the fashion side of our blog) my husband Rob and I find it a lot more sincere and easy to break into than other areas of interest. As long as you’re showing passion and competency, people are ready to welcome you into their circles.

Wine blogs don’t support each other as much as they should, Rob and I have read in the media, but I’m not sure I agree with that—people have a natural inclination when tasting and giving ratings. They see what other wine lovers think, and then relate. There’s a curiosity beyond ego, which is why the community has grown so quickly.

When Cork and Caftans started a Twitter account, our entire blog following was basically for the fashion side. Overnight, C&C’s reviews were in front of the eyes of winemakers, wineries, and zillions of other wine lovers. Twitter revolutionized the way we have conversation, but this was just unreal. You have to be thinking, what motivates users to join the online community? For wineries and winemakers, it’s about hearing what the public is saying about your product, and growing a brand identity. We quickly realized they wanted to read our reviews. After a few RT’s (retweets) and #FF (Follow Fridays) later, the wine side had taken over our Twitter account.

Twitter has also become a real-time community for wine lovers in a way fashion tweeters treat Fashion Week—-quick, live updates that make you a part of the experience—but, think wine tastings. You can’t really clink glasses and give ‘cheers’ to someone 700 miles away, but you can have a good glass of your favorite beverage, maybe get tipsy, and tweet with them! There are live wine tastings, video chats, Tweet-ups, and—if you’re lucky enough—chances to meet the online marketing/wine tasting guru himself, Gary Vaynerchuk.

If anyone has made wine an online fixture, it’s the man behind *Crush It! *His Wine Library videos have taken over the web—love them or hate them. He has contributed to what I think is the best part of marrying social networking and wine—-it’s adding accessibility to a hobby that, for most, is intimidating and esoteric. He’s made it fun. He’s made it fun and exciting!

Now, I should add that I’ve never actually made it through more than a minute of his videos—not for me. Hubby Rob is the big fan in our relationship, he watches them (with headphones, my rule) often when he wants a second opinion on something. The guy knows his stuff, there’s no arguing that. And he’s running a media company that’s a total inspiration from what you can see from his following.

In the end, though, wine is about consumers—it’s a business. You have to give credit to the wineries that are using Facebook and Twitter and using it well. Connect with them. Take advantage of those relationships, get to know them on a more personal level.

And remember the conversation isn’t one-sided. You can push out your reviews as much as you want, but the way to build is to listen, comment, and respond. And by all means—drink! Wine is about experiences, passion, friendship, and creating moments. We’re all in it for the same thing, and that’s the beauty of it.